Obama Wades Into Murky Waters of Diplomatic Protocol

The goods news out of London is that Barack Obama has reaffirmed America’s “special relationship” with the U.K. The bad news is that the “affinity and kinship” that the U.S. president spoke of apparently only extends to England.

Mr. Obama’s first major foreign trip has been seen as a test not just of his leadership skills, but of his ability to navigate the protocols of diplomacy. In the U.K., that means mentioning the famous special relationship between the countries, which has been important here ever since Winston Churchill first referenced it after World War II.

On Wednesday at a joint conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Obama made a pass at acknowledging the special relationship. Unfortunately, he inadvertently broke a cardinal protocol by at one stage using England to denote U.K.

“We owe so much to England; that when you come here there’s that sense of familiarity, as well as difference, that makes it just a special place,” he said, leaving Wales, Northern Ireland and Mr. Brown’s home country of Scotland out in the cold.

But in a statement to make any republican-minded Scots wince, Mr. Obama conceded one thing he loved about the U.K. — the Queen.

Later Wednesday, Mr. Obama and his wife will meet with Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace and must immerse themselves in the protocols of one of the very oldest British traditions. The 25 minute meeting will be held in the Queen’s private sitting room. Aside from the leaders of British Commonwealth countries Canada and Australia, Mr. Obama is the only other G-20 leader invited for a private meeting with the Queen, who in has met 11 of the 12 U.S. presidents who have been in power during her reign. Lyndon B. Johnson was the only U.S. president to not receive an audience. A palace spokesman said he did not know why.

U.S. security personnel and advisers have already visited the palace to check the arrangements and take advice on protocol, such as the neck bow that Mr. Obama is expected to make, and the curtsy Michelle Obama will have been advised to deliver, a person familiar with the matter said. The Queen, is addressed as her Majesty and the Duke as his Royal Highness. Any personal contact is frowned upon.

From there it is on to a reception in the palace’s lavishly furnished state rooms for all G-20 heads, before dinner at Number Ten Downing Street, cooked by British celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver.